Time nor Tide: Ireland & Climate Change, reviewed

We look at this Irish take on Climate Change, written by a young up and coming author, Ben Harkin. You can buy the book from Amazon here.

Time nor Tide: Ireland & Climate Change, reviewed

The author of this book is not even out of college yet, and conceived and began writing the book while still in school. In someways it could be said that lockdown has generated some positive projects and results to accompany it. While not looking to diminish the impact of the global pandemic, climate change was, is, and will still be the issue that defines this decade and all generations going forwards. It is also arguable too that the younger generations, fed up of ineffective and slow moving actions by their older citizens have decided it is too late to not do anything.

Harkin’s book works well as he effectively presents the issues and argues well for what the problems are and what we need to do to try and even mitigate them, let alone make a difference or any improvement. Chapter Seven for example, Heating, looks at the unique challenges of Irish homes, with poor levels of insulation, and a dependence, for many, on burning fossil fuels.

This raises issues in a few areas, it is an inefficient way to heat your home, most of the heat goes up the chimney, it doesn’t spread well and warm the rest of the house, and it often releases toxins in terms of the matter burned. By not burning wood in this way, a large impact on Ireland’s CO2 emissions could be achieved.

Harkin has done his research well, absorbed the issues, and created a readable and accessible book. It may help to reach and engage the under 25 years old generation who know that it is their future and livelihoods which are under threat. We found it an enjoyable and useful book. We will recommend it to everyone, but to younger readers in particular, and it is a positive and locally relevant response for Irish readers too.

Really excited to announce the release of my book 'Time nor Tide: Ireland & Climate Change'. It's about how climate change is going to impact Ireland and how we can stop it while building a cleaner, better future. Available now for Kindle and Paperback on: https://t.co/56tscNbcyy pic.twitter.com/gwq6gW2G4G

— Ben Harkin ? (@harkin_ben) October 22, 2020

More about the book

The book covers what Ireland can expect to face from the impacts of climate change, and then what we can do to reduce our emissions, and also how we can absorb carbon from the sky to compensate for some emissions.

Drawing on research from Ireland and across the world, this book explains what we can expect for the future in Ireland with climate change, and how we can move to limit the worst impacts. Combining studies and stories, Ben Harkin explains how we can use the technology we already have to bring our country to being carbon neutral, while building a better future for all.

See more stories here.